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Schoenhof 
Wages  and  trade 


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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


WAGES  AND  TRADE 


Manufacturing   Industries 


AMERICA   AND    IN   EUROPE 


I  J.    SCHOENHOF 

llTHOI!  OK  "  WOOL  AND  WOOLLENS,"  AND  Of"  THE  DESTRUCTIVE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  TARIFF  ' 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY  R.  R.  BOAVKER 


NEW    YORK 
PUBLISHED    FOR    THE 

NEW  YORK  FREE-TRADE  CLUB 

BY     G.     P.    PUTNAM'S    SONS 

27   &   29   WEST   23D   STREET 
1884 


QUESTIONS  OF  THE  DAY— NO.  X. 


The  Destructive  Influence  of  the  Tariff  upo 
Manufacture  and  Commerce,  and  the  Figures  an 
Facts  Relating  Thereto.  By  J.  Schoenhof.  izmr 
cloth,  75c.;  paper,  40c.  * 

"  He  states  his  case  clearly,  and  his  argument  is  well  fortified  with  fif 
ures  and  worthy  of  attention." — Globe  Democrat,  St,  Louis.  ; 

"  Both  friends  and  opponents  of  his  doctrine  will  find  the  slender  vo 
ume  a  useful  book  of  reference,  owing  to  the  admirably  arranged  tables  an 
statistics." — Picayune,  New  Orleans. 

"  Mr.  Schoenhof  brings  forward  '  figures  and  facts'  that  will  be  of  ir 
terest  and  value  even  to  those  who  disagree  with  his  conclusions.  His  a]: 
pendixes,  in  particular,  group  data  not  easily  to  be  had  elsewhere." — Sta 
New  York. 

"As  an  argument  it  is  absolutely  conclusive.  *  *  *  "Wg  gay  en 
phatically  of  the  whole  pamphlet,  read,  mark,  learn,  and  inwardly  dige 
it. " — Literary  Chtirchinan. 

"  Packed  with  well-arranged  figures  and  condensed  arguments.  "- 
Nation.  j 

"  We  recommend  the  book  to  all  who  are  interested  in  this  great  que? 
tion  of  the  day." — A'ews  and  Cotirier,  Charleston. 

"  Books  of  this  kind  cannot  be  too  widely  distributed  and  careful!' 
read,  and  not  only  read  but  thoroughly  studied." — Times,  Kansas  City. 

"  An  able  presentation  of  the  anti-protection  argument.  *  *  *  Jt  j 
well  to  read  it  and  get  a  clear  idea  of  the  free-traders'  case." — Times,  Tro} 

"  These  figures     •■    *    *    ought  not  to  be  hastily  thrown  aside.    *    * 
We  cordially  welcome  to  the  literature  of  political  economy  this  brochure  c 
Mr.  Schoenhof." — Post,  Hartford. 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  New  York  and  London. 


vVAGES    AND    TRADE 


Manufacturing  Industries 


AMERICA   AND   IN    EUROPE 


J.  SCHOENHOF 

THOR  OF  "wool   AND   WOOLLENS,"  AND    OF  "  THE  DESTRUCTIVE   INFLUENCE  OF  THE   TARIFF' 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY  R.  R.  BOWKER 


NEW   YORK 
PUBLISHED    FOR    THE 

NEW  YORK  FREE-TRADE  CLUB 

BY     G.    P.    PUTNAM'S    SONS 

27   &   29   WEST   23D   STREET 
1884 


Press  of 

G.  P.   Putnam'.    Sons 

New    Yc-rk 


HF 

xc>n 

INTRODUCTION. 


The  question  of  labor  and  wages  is  the  one  question  which 
ought  most  to  concern  American  economists  and  American  states- 
men. For  the  great  body  of  our  seventeen  million  male  workers 
are  wage-earners  averaging  less  than  ^400  per  year;  and  "the 
greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number "  is  the  purpose  of  the 
American  nation. 

The  protectionists  have  claimed  that  a  protective  tariff  raises 
wages.  This  is  the  "last  ditch  "  of  their  argument.  There  began 
to  be  doubt  about  the  truth  of  this  claim.  Consequently  the  New 
York  Tribune^  the  organ  of  the  protectionists,  sent  a  special  cor- 
respondent to  Europe  to  obtain  evidence  in  support  of  it.  Mr. 
Robert  P.  Porter,  who  had  been  special  agent  of  the  Census  as  to 
statistics  of  wealth  and  secretary  of  the  Tariff  Commission,  was 
secured  for  this  purpose. 

Mr.  Porter  did  what  he  was  sent  to  do.  He  presented  a  picture 
of  the  distress  of  England  under  free  trade  and  of  the  prosperity 
of  France  and  Germany  under  a  protective  tariff  that  was  most  of 
a  surprise  to  those  who  knew  most  of  those  countries. 

But  if  a  European  traveller  should  to-day  visit  the  cotton-mills 
of  Connecticut  and  inquire  how  much  women  earn  there  ;  inves- 
tigate the  tenement-houses  of  New  York  and  the  making  of  cigars 
and  artificial  flowers  ;  look  into  the  Alaska  St.  slums  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  finally  ask  in  Altoona  and  Pittsburg  and  other  centres 
of  "protective"  industries,  in  which  the  vestiges  of  the  riots  of 
1877  are  still  to  be  seen,  how  many  mills  are  shut  down,  and  how 
many  hands  are  out  of  work,  and  how  much  the  rest  are  earning, 
he  could  easily  convince  foreigners  that  democracy  is  a  failure 
and  the  United  States  the  unhappiest  of  nations. 

"  A  lie  which  is  all  a  lie  can  be  met  and  fought  with  outright, 

But  a  lie  that  is  part  a  truth  is  a  harder  matter  to  fight." 

iii 

720620 
WOT.  ii«»w  ^^ 


IV 

To  meet  these  part-truths  of  Mr.  Porter's,  Mr.  J.  Schoenhof, 
whose  papers  on  "  The  Destructive  Influence  of  the  Tariff  on 
Manufacture  and  Commerce"  have  won  deserved  attention,  was 
asked  to  show  the  other  side  of  the  case.  This  he  has  done  by 
the  statistics  and  facts  now  gathered  together  in  these  pages. 
'  There  is  nothing  more  difficult  than  for  the  fair-minded  econo- 
mist to  obtain  absolutely  certain  comparisons  of  wages.  Differ- 
ences in  hours  of  labor,  in  the  purchasing  power  of  money,  in 
neighborhood  and  circumstance,  in  the  division  of  labor  in  the 
same  trades,  in  the  modes  of  production,  in  the  use  of  machinery, 
are  a  few  of  the  confusing  elements.  Mr.  Schoenhof,  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  a  native  of  Germany,  a  merchant  in  and  manu- 
facturer of  woollen  goods,  an  employer  of  labor,  a  student  of 
economics  and  of  industrial  conditions,  is,  however,  well  qualified 
to  obtain  the  actual  facts,  and  he  carefully  gives  the  authorities 
for  his  tables.  Mr.  Porter  has  in  some  cases  done  the  same  ;  in 
other  cases  it  is  evident  that  a  careful  selection  of  fields  of  inquiry 
supplied  data  such  as  he  desired. 

The  general  truth  underlying  the  specific  truths  and  half-truths 
brought  forward  by  these  two  witnesses  is,  as  discerned  by  free- 
trade  economists,  that  wages  are  higher  but  product  cheaper  in 
free-trade  England  than  in  protected  France  and  Germany  ;  and 
that  wages  are  in  some  cases  lower,  in  others  the  same,  in  most 
happily  higher,  but  product  dearer  (where  raw  materials  are  taxed, 
though  cheaper  where  they  are  not  taxed)  in  the  United  States 
than  in  England  or  any  other  country.  I  may  add  one  striking 
confirmation  of  the  principle  that  wages  may  become  higher  as 
prices  become  lower.  More  than  a  generation  ago,  in  Plymouth 
Co.,  Mass.,  the  tack-makers  were  paid  from  2  to  3  cents  per 
thousand,  and  earned  ^1.25  to  $1.50  per  day  ;  the  men  who  now 
tend  the  labor-saving  machines  earn  from  $4  to  ^6  per  day, 
though  they  are  paid  only  f  cent  per  thousand. 

Mr.  Schoenhof's  deductions  in  his  previous  book  are  that  wages 
are  determined  more  by  the  standard  of  living  among  wage- 
earners  than  by  any  other  consideration  ;  that  this  standard  in- 
creases when  all  agencies  have  free  play,  but  decreases  under  re- 
strictive laws  ;  that  where  the  standard  of  living  is  highest,  pro- 
ductive power  and  inventions  are  fullest  and  production  conse- 


quently  cheapest.    These  deductions  are  borne  out  by  the  statistics 
in  the  following  pages. 

I  have  had  myself  practical  acquaintance  with  labor  in  America 
and  in  England,  and  have  seen  that  the  nervous  force,  the 
ingenuity,  and  other  qualities  of  the  American  workman  enable 
him  to  work  so  much  more  effectively  as  to  present  this  paradox 
of  higher  wages  and  cheaper  production. 

The  conclusion  is  that  the  natural  prosperity  of  the  wage- 
earners  in  the  United  States  has  been  decreased  by  "  protective  " 
restriction  and  would  be  increased  by  free  trade.  That  wages  are 
higher  in  England  under  free  trade  than  in  the  old  "protective" 
days  is  shown  in  some  of  Mr.  Porter's  own  figures,  and  the  differ- 
ence is  something  more  than  can  be  accounted  for  by  other 
reasons.  Give  American  labor  free  raw  materials  to  work  upon 
and  it  will  get  out  of  the  vastly  increased  product  then  exported  a 
very  much  greater  wage.  Certainly  in  purchasing  power,  probably 
in  actual  dollars  and  cents  also.  I  heard,  in  Berlin,  from  a  United 
States  officer  of  legation,  a  startling  commentary  on  the  effect  of 
"  protection  "  on  purchasing  power.  He  said  it  was  common  talk 
in  that  city  that  the  cost  of  feeding,  clothing,  and  housing  the 
German  army  was  so  much  greater  under  the  high  tariff  as  to 
overbalance  all  that  the  government  gained  from  it.  Mr.  Porter's 
ears  were  not  open  to  such  suggestions.  Mr.  Porter  overlooked 
another  significant  fact,  which  I  learned  at  first-hand.  In  one  of 
the  Peabody  tenement  buildings  in  London,  meant  for  the  lowest 
wage-earners,  the  average  earning  of  heads  of  families  was  23s. 
7|d.  per  week,  or  about  $300  per  year,  more  than  in  some  of  our 
protected  industries. 

Mr.  Schoenhof  gives  the  facts  which  show  that  the  decadence 
of  English  commerce  exists  chiefly  as  a  desire  of  American  pro- 
tectionists. The  development  of  England  in  the  prosperity  of  her 
people  during  the  free-trade  era  is  shown  by  the  facts  adduced  by 
Mr.  J.  S.  Moore  from  the  Financial  Reform  Almanac.  In  1840,  the 
birth-rate  in  England  and  Wales  was  31.93  per  thousand  of  popu- 
lation and  the  death-rate  22.86,  showing  a  balance  of  9.07  ;  in 
1882,  the  birth-rate  was  33.46  and  the  death-rate  1931,  a  balance 
of  14.15.  Since  1840,  the  consumption  of  articles  which  indicate 
"solid  comfort  "  has  increased  fourfold  :  In  1840,  the  consump- 


tion  of  currants  and  raisins  was/^r  capita  1.45  lbs.,  in  1882,  4.32  ; 
raw  sugar,  15.20  and  62.10  lbs.  ;  rice,  .09  and  13.49  lbs.  ;  tea,  1.25 
and  4.67  lbs.  In  1840,  there  were  in  England  and  Wales  27,187 
committals  for  crime  out  of  15,730,813  population,  or  i  to  580  ; 
in  1882,  15,260  out  of  26,406,820,  or  only  i  to  1,730.  From  1849 
to  1882  the  recorded  paupers  had  decreased  from  934,419  (or  i  to 
18.26)  to  799,296  (or  I  to  33.14).  When  we  add  to  such  evidence, 
the  fact  that  less  than  700,000  workers  in  this  country  depend  on 
"  protected "  industries,  that  2,000,000  depend  on  unprotected 
mechanical  industries,  and  that  7,670,000  are  unprotected  farmers, 
it  is  a  wonder  that  American  wage-earners  have  so  long  suffered 
themselves  to  be  misled. 

Many  workingmen  sympathize,  many  farmers  do  not  sympa- 
thize, with  the  views  of  Mr.  Henry  George  as  to  the  evils  of  our 
land  system.  But  workingmen  and  farmers  can  alike  agree  with 
Mr.  George  that  the  protective  system  is  holding  us  all  down.  Mr. 
Schoenhof  might  well  dedicate  his  book,  as  free-traders  hope  they 
are  dedicating  their  work,  "  to  the  greatest  good  of  the  greatest 
number." 

R.    R.    BOWKER. 


WAGES  -AND    TRADE 

IN    MANUFACTURING    INDUSTKIES   IN  THE 

UNITED  STATES,  GREAT  BRITAIN,  FRANCE, 
AND  GERMANY. 


I  propose  to  give  the  wages  and  earnings  of  working-classes 
employed  in  factories  by  competing  nations.  Little  progress  can 
be  made  toward  a  final  adjudication  of  the  tariff  question  until 
the  bugbear  of  "  European  pauper  labor  "  is  removed  from  the 
vision  of  our  public  men.  I  shall  bring  the  matter  in  divisions  to 
the  reader,  arranged  according  to  the  importance  of  the  various 
branches. 

The  tables  which  I  shall  give  are  from  the  best  authorities  I  can 
find  in  the  United  States,  England,  France,  and  Germany.  My 
authorities  are  : 

FOR    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  the  United  States. 
''  "  "  "  of  Labor  of  Mass. 

JNew  Jersey. 

FOR    GREAT    BRITAIN. 

Leone  Levi,  "  Wages  and  Earnings." 
Statistical  Abstract  for  the  United  Kingdom.  • 

Government  Reports  to  Parliament. 
Mulhall,  Dictionary  of  Statistics,  1884. 

Consular  Reports  to  the  Department  of  State  of  the  United 
States. 

FOR    FRANCE. 

Moreau  de  Jonnes,  "  Statistique  de  1'  Industrie  de  la  France." 
Othenin  d'  Haussonville,  "  La  Vie  et  les  Salaires  a  Paris." 
Report  of  Consul- General  Walker. 


FOR    GERMANY. 

Report  of  Consul  Du  Bois  and  other  Consuls  to  Department 
of  State. 

Tables  of  Statistics  of  Wages  of  "  Concordia." 
Reports  of  Chambers  of  Commerce  to  Secretary-General. 
Dr.  Heinrich  Frankel,  "  Die  tagliche  Arbeitszeit." 
Statistisches  Jahrbuch  fur  1883. 

I,      THE    TRUE    CONDITIONS   OF    BRITISH    TRADE, 

In  order  to  prove  that  the  present  tariff  system  of  the  United 
States  ought  to  be  continued  in  force,  the  New  York  Tribune 
sent  ex-tariff-Commissioner  Mr.  Robert  P.  Porter  abroad,  to 
collect  statistics  in  the  interest  of  "  protection  "  ;  or  rather  what 
"American  Protectionists  "  are  pleased  to  call  protection,  "  equal 
protection  to  every  thing,"  manufactured  goods  and  raw  materials 
alike  ;  frequently  .giving  heaviest  rates  to  the  crudest  and  coarsest 
fabrics,  and  lower  rates  as  fabrics  increase  in  fineness  and  finish- 
ing process.  Advocates  of  this  doctrine  seem  to  forget  that  the 
heavy  tax  on  the  raw  material  and  on  the  crude  fabric  makes  the 
"  protective  tariff  "  on  higher  branches  absolutely  nugatory.  By 
this  system  nearly  two  thirds  of  our  vast  industries  have  to  suffer 
at  home  from  all  the  disadvantages  arising  from  open  markets  for 
the  competing  products  of  foreign  industries,  without  at  the  same 
time  sharing  in  the  advantages  of  free  trade  for  their  own  prod- 
ucts, made  of  these  high-taxed  materials.*      In  order  to  save  this 

*  An  analysis  of  the  census  report  on  manufacturing  industries  in  the  United 
States,  gf  iS3o,  and  a  comparison  with  that  of  i860,  gives  some  interesting 
facts.  The  large  increase  from  $1,885,000,000  to  $5,369,000,000  is  ascribed  to 
protection  by  that  school  of  economists  who  claim  high  and  burdensome  taxa- 
tion as  synonymous  with  protection.  Now  "manufactures"  of  the  census 
reports  have  to  be  subdivided  into  three  classes : 

1.  Agricultural  or  mining  products,  or  labor  services  with  small  additions 
of  materials,  or  work  that  has  to  be  done  on  the  spot,  uninfluenced  by  any  pos- 
sible furtherance  by  the  aid  of  the  law-making  power.  This  class  contains  such 
items  as  :  Blacksmithing,  Bread  and  Crackers,  Carpentering,  Coffee-Roasting, 
Cooperage,  Fertilizers,  Flouring,  Food  and  Canning,  Liquors,  Lumber, 
Slaughtering,  Sugar  Refining. 

2.  Manufactures  which  are  dependent  on  manufactured  material.  These 
materials   are   so   largely   protected    that    the    product   has   no    benefit   from 


mongrel  system  of  taxation  from  annihilation,  which  it  so  richly 
deserves,  the  whole  arsenal  of  the  dictionary  has  been  ransacked 
to  find  names  and  sentences  so  as  to  make  it  more  acceptable 
than  experience  has  proven  it  to  the  consumer  and  the  producer. 
Neither  "  horizontal  reduction  "  nor  "  incidental  protection  "  will 
help  the  case,  when  the  march  of  events  categorically  demands  a 
thorough  and  intelligent  reform  of  the  tariff,  so  as  to  give  relief  to 
our  manufacturing  industries,  and  encourage  the  development  of 
the  higher  branches. 

To  bring  all  industries  of  a  country  into  healthy  development, 
attention  and  encouragement  must  be  given  to  the  higher  grades. 
To  these  the  lower  branches  must  be  made  tributary.  If  the 
higher  branches  are  starved  by  excessive  taxation  on  their  mate- 
rials, these  materials  will  suffer  equally.  Other  protective  nations 
have  shaped  their  fiscal  policy  to  this  end  a  generation  ago,  while 

the  tariff,  as  the  additional  cost  of  the  material  is  often  higher  than  the  "  pro- 
tection" on  the  product  amounts  to. 

3.   Manufactures  of  first  process,  which  are  wrought  from  raw  materials, 
such  as  textiles,  crude  iron  and  steel,  etc. 

They   bear  the   following    relation,  according  to  a   careful    classification 
which  I  have  made, 

i860  1880 

Class  I.  $657,000,000  $1,800,000,000 

"     II.  462,000,000  1,790,000,000 

"    III.  770,000,000  1,800,000,000 

Only  the  last  class  has  been  deriving  any  great  benefit  from  protection.  But  the 
advantage  is  equally  illusory,  if  brought  to  the  test  of  analysis.  The  tax  on  raw 
material  has  dwarfed  the  development  of  this  class  more  than  any  other.  Lines 
which  depended  on  their  own  exertions  have  far  exceeded  the  proportion  of 
development  of  class  III.  But  this  class  III,  if  reduced  to  the  valuations  of 
i860,  would  certainly  not  amount  to  more  than  three  fourths  of  that  sum.  The 
inflation  of  prices  in  consequence  of  the  much  higher  cost  of  the  material,  with 
the  exception  of  cotton  goods  perhaps,  would  fully  account  for  this  difference. 
Besides,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  iSSo  was  the  notorious  boom-year. 
Were  we  to  reduce  values  of  census  report  to  the  valuations  of  1879  or  of  1884, 
we  could  certainly  not  claim  more  than  $1,350,000,000  of  protected  industries 
as  against  the  same  class  in  1S60  with  $770,000,000,  an  increase  of  75  per  cent., 
whilst  our  population  has  increased  50  per  cent,  in  the  meantime.  Comparing 
this  increase  of  our  productive  strength  with  the  rapid  advance  of  other  nations 
not  so  hampered,  we  can  only  deplore  the  blindness  of  our  law-makers  and 
people  in  obstinately  refusing  to  strike  at  the  real  source  of  the  evil :  the 
stupid  tax  on  raw  materials. 


we  persist  in  the  reverse.  The  present  stagnation  is  too  eloquent 
a  monitor.  It  would  be  well  to  seek  other  means  of  relief,  than 
picturing  the  miseries  and  suffering  of  free-trade  England,  and 
painting  in  glowing  colors  the  condition  of  protected  Germany. 
This  will  not  bring  the  slightest  aid  and  relief  to  our  glutted 
markets,  and  to  our  striking  or  locked-out  operatives,  even  if  the 
doleful  news  sent  us  from  England  by  the  correspondent  of  the 
N.  Y.  Tribune  were  true.  He  pictures  the  commerce  of  the 
United  Kingdom  declining,  its  industries  decaying,  its  work- 
ing-people starving  for  want  of  employment,  while  all  nations  that 
have  adopted  or  retained  the  protective  policy  are  happy  and  con- 
tented. The  latter  take  the  trade  away  from  the  proud  ruler  of 
the  sea.  Their  workpeople  are  constantly  employed,  and  in- 
creased earnings  are  the  result  of  the  introduction  of  higher  pro- 
tective taxes  against  former  lower  rates.  All  this  sad  news  is 
repeatedly  unrolled  before  our  eyes,  and  in  reading  it  our  sym- 
pathetic heart  is  moved  at  the  sight  of  the  decadence  of  this  great 
and  mighty  empire.  The  waves  of  destruction  which  England 
for  a  generation  has  launched  upon  the  commerce  and  industries 
of  rival  nations  are  at  last  rolling  back  upon  her,  threatening  to 
unhinge  that  mighty  creation  of  Cobden,  Bright,  Peel,  Gladstone, 
and  their  like.  The  advice  given  by  the  men  who  have  discovered 
this  harrowing  state  of  affairs  to  the  English  statesmen  is,  to 
abandon  their  free-trade  policy,  and  to  adopt  the  principle  of 
protection  and  exclusion.  But  the  advice  remained  unnoticed, 
although  "  that  strong  man  of  the  Tariff  Commission  "  had 
hurried  back  from  his  Continental  mission  to  England,  to  admon- 
ish the  government  and  people,  and  give  them  warning  of  their 
impending  doom,  unless  they  adopt  the  policy  of  their  com- 
petitors. "  Is  it  not  all  plenty  and  happiness  in  the  United 
States  ? "  "  It  is  true  the  latter  have  no  foreign  outlet  for  the 
surplus  product  of  their  mills  ;  but  what  is  the  use  of  foreign 
commerce  ?     The  less  you  export  the  more  you  have  at  home." 

Argument  much  like  this  appeared  in  the  very  columns  of  the 
Tribime.  Now  what  are  the  real  facts  of  the  case  ?  What  are 
the  conditions  of  industrial  nations  so  far  as  their  commerce  is 
concerned  in  manufacturing  industries,  and  what  are  the  wages 
paid  to  their  operatives  ?     Is  the  protective  or   the   free-trade 


policy  more  conducive  to  their  happiness  and  the  development  of 
trade  ?  Are  wages  determined  by  tariffs  or  by  other  agencies  ? 
What  are  these  agencies  ?  What  is  it  that  gives  preponderance  in 
industries  and  trade  to  the  countries  whose  working-people  are 
used  to  shorter  hours  and  to  a  higher  standard  of  living  ?  All 
these  postulates  are  totally  at  variance  with  theories  handed  down 
by  protectionists.  To  prove  their  correctness,  however,  is  the 
aim  of  these  brief  papers.  If  correct,  our  fiscal  policy  must  be 
shaped  accordingly,  if  we  intend  to  keep  a  foremost  rank  in  the 
progress  of  nations. 

The  first  and  most  prominent  discovery  of  the  protectionistic 
press,  the  decline  of  the  commerce  and  manufacturing  industries 
of  Great  Britain,  has  not  the  first  semblance  of  truth. 

I  will  give  the  exports  of  British  manufactures  for  the  three 
years,  1880,  1881,  1882,  from  a  Return  to  an  order  of  the  House  of 
Commons : 

Exports  of  coal  and  of  manufactures  from  the  United  Kingdom,  year  ending 
December  31st. 


1880. 

1S81. 

1882. 

$15,420,000 

$17,800,000 

$20,000,000 

7,000,000 

6,670,000 

6,850,000 

7,000,000 

7,200,000 

5,650,000 

4,600,000 

5,250,000 

5,600,000 

11,500,000 

12,000,000 

10,700,000 

4,000,000 

4,500,000 

5,000,000 

40,000,000 

42,000,000 

46,000,000 

16,000,000 

16,500,000 

16,000,000 

1,400,000 

1,600,000 

2,000,000 

57,000,000 

64,000,000 

62,000,000 

276,500,000 

284,000,000 

266,000,000 

29,000,000 

33,000,000 

36,000,000 

9,600,000 

10,100,000 

10,600,000 

4,400,000 

4,600,000 

5,200,000 

16,700,000 

20,000,000 

21,000,000 

17,000,000 

18,600,000 

19,800,000 

4,900,000 

5,300,000 

6,400,000 

136,000,000 

132,000,000 

151,000,000 

12,000,000 

12,500,000 

12,000,000 

13,500,000 

17,000,000 

18,250,000 

33,000,000 

33,500,000 

34,000,000 

44,000,000 

47,500,000 

58,000,000 

13,000,000 

17,500,000 

17,000,000 

6,300,000 

9,700,000 

5,000,000 

TOO,  000, 000 

103,000,000 

107,000,000 

$880,000,000 

$925,000,000 

$948,000,000 

Apparel  and  Slops 

Arms,  Ammunition,  etc.    . 

Bags  and  Sacks 

Books    

Chemicals 

Caoutchouc  Manufactures       .     . 

Coal  and  Fuel 

Copper,  etc. 

Cordage      

Cotton,  Yarns  and  Twist 

"       Piece  Goods      .     .     .     . 

"       Other, Lace,  Hosiery,  etc. 

Earthenware,  etc 

Glass 

Haberdashery      ...... 

Hardware  and  Cutlery      .     .     . 

Hats 

Iron  and  Steel 

Jute  Yarn  and  Manufactures 
Leather  and  Manufactures 
Linen  Yarn  and         "  .     . 

Machinery 

Silk,  Twist  and  Manufactures     . 

Telegraph  Wires 

Woollen,  Worsted  and  Yarns 

Total 


There  has  been  a  steady  rise  in  the  value  of  British  exports  of 
this  class  since  1878.  In  bulk  the  exports  were  never  so  great  as 
in  1882,  not  even  in  1872  and  1873,  when  they  exceeded  the 
values  of  1S82  by  only  five  per  cent.  The  valuation  of  English 
exports  of  manufactures  in  1873  was  on  the  average  fully  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  above  that  of  1882. 

Nor  is  the  report  that  the  English  markets  are  filled  increasingly 
with  foreign  fabrics  any  nearer  the  truth  than  the  statement  re- 
futed above.     The  same  report  of  the  British  Government  states  : 

Imports  of  foreign  manufactures  into  the  United  Kingdom,  year  ending 
December  31st. 


18S0. 


i88r. 


1882. 


Chemicals 

Copper,  Manufactured 
Cotton,  "  .     , 

Glass  and  Manufactures     . 

Hats 

Iron  and  Steel  Manufactures 
Leather  and  Manufactures 

Paper    

Silks 

Tin,  Blocks  and  Bars   .     • 

Watches 

Woollens  and  Yarns      .     . 

Total 


$5,200,000 
11,600,000 
12,100,000 

8,400,000 

200,000 

18,000,000 

31,500,000 

5,600,000 
64,000,000 

8,250,000 

2,000,000 
45,500,000 

$212,300,000 


$6,400,000 
10,000,000 
12,000,000 

8,000,000 

160,000 

18,200,000 

32,000,000 

5,400,000 
56,000,000 

9,000,000 

2,200,000 
35,000  000 


$194,400,000 


$7,200,000 
11,600,000 
11,800,000 

8,000,000 

230,000 

19,000,000 

36,500,000 

5,750,000 
54,000,000 
12,000,000 

2,300,000 
37,000,000 

$205,400,000 


It  will  be  seen  from  this,  that  there  is  great  latitude  between 
the  statements  set  afloat  by  the  sources  mentioned  above  and  the 
real  facts  of  the  case.  Equal  stress  has  been  laid  upon  a  decline 
in  wages  in  England  and  a  corresponding  rise  in  Germany.  My 
most  diligent  investigations  have  not  been  able  to  discover  any 
material  foundation  for  these  assertions.  The  relative  conditions 
of  working-people  in  factories  of  the  various  nations  coming  under 
the  heading  of  this  inquiry  can  best  be  estimated  from  an  exam- 
ination of  the  tables  in  the  following  subdivisions  : 


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8 

WAGES   IN    THE    COTTON    INDUSTRIES. 

In  the  cotton  industries  the  comparison  of  figures  shows  that 
the  wages  paid  in  Massachusetts  in  1878  were,  on  the  average,  not 
more  than  15  per  cent,  higher  than  wages  of  English  cotton 
operatives.  English  wages  were  somewhat  higher  in  1880  than 
they  were  in  1865,  higher  in  1881  than  in  1880.  Counting  the 
difference  of  time  and  the  steadier  working  habits  of  our  people, 
then  we  find  American  wages  below  the  English — though  the 
weekly  earnings  are  higher  to  the  extent  shown  in  the  tables. 
Applying  within  the  United  States  the  principle  of  higher 
efficiency  and  cheaper  production  resulting  from  a  high  standard 
of  living,*  we  find  Massachusetts  holding  the  same  position  tow- 
ard her  sister  States  which  England  occupies  toward  the  rest  of 
the  world, — higher  wages  and  shorter  hours  producing  finer  and 
relatively  cheaper  goods.  The  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics 
of  Labor  of  New  Jersey,  Mr.  Bishop,  endorses  the  views  of  Mr. 
Consul  Shaw,  whom  he  quotes  in  his  report  of  1881  :  "  The  hours  of 
labor  in  the  mills  of  the  other  New  England  States,  where  the 
wages  are  generally  less  than  in  Massachusetts,  are  usually  66 
to  69  per  week.  Undoubtedly,  the  inequalities  in  the  wages  of 
English  and  American  operatives  are  more  than  equalized  by  the 
greater  efficiency  of  the  latter,  and  their  longer  time  of  labor," 
Massachusetts  produces  more  than  one  third  of  the  whole  prod- 
uct of  the  United  States  in  cotton  goods :  74  millions  out  of  210 
millions,  and  in  woollens  and  worsteds  55  millions  out  of  a 
total  of  196  millioTis. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  table  that  England  pays  more  than  any 
of  its  two  principal  Continental  competitors,  Germany  and  France. 
The  industrial  development  of  all  other  nations,  excepting  Bel- 
gium and  Switzerland  perhaps,  is  far  behind  either.  I  take  Ger- 
many and  France  therefore  as  examples.  English  wages  are 
fully  50  per  cent  above  those  of  Germany,  and  on  the  average  at 
least  30  per  cent,  above  those  of  France.  Besides,  the  English 
working  week  is  one  of  56  hours,  whilst  that  of  Germany  is  from 
66  to  72  (often  78)  hours,  and  that  of  France  of  72  hours.  Yet 
they  all  guard  themselves  by  protective  tariffs,  not  against  their 

*  See  the  full  illustrations  of  this  principle  in  my  book,  "The  Destructive 
Influence  of  the  Tariff,"  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 


weaker  rivals,  but  against  the  very  country  which  pays  the  high- 
est wages  and  has  the  shortest  hours. 

In  cotton  goods  the  imports  and  exports  are  : 


England  .... 

Germany  (not  containing  yarns) 
France         "  "  " 


Imports. 
$12,000,000 


Exports. 
$380,000,000 
23,000,000 
15,000  000 


19,000,000 

England's  position  in    the  commerce  of   the  world  in  cotton 
goods  is  as  follows  : 

Wages  :  from  one  half  to  one  third  higher  than  in  any  other  European  State. 
Weekly  hours  :  56  against  66  and  72  on  the  Continent. 

English  exports  in  cotton  goods  and  yarns       ....         $380,000,000 

Germany       "  "  " 

"  "  hosiery,  etc. 

France  "  "  and  yarns 

U.  Stales      " 

Holland        "  "  and  yarns 

Belgium        "  " 

Switzerland  "  "  and  yarns 


$21,000,000 
10,000,000 
19,000,000 
13,000,000 
11,000,000 
5,500,000 
10,000,000 


90,000,000 


Excess  of  English  exports  in  cottons  over  the  rest  of  the  world        $290,000,000 

If  we  deduct  the  exports  of  yarns,  because  they  are  more  than 
balanced  by  imports  from  England — nineteen  millions — then  we 
have  $71,000,000  against  $380,000,000.  This  is  a  striking  illus- 
tration of  the  fallacy  of  the  "  Pauper-Labor  Theory"  in  the  tariff. 

The  causes  which  lead  to  England's  superiority  over  the  rest 
of  Europe,  in  an  industrial  sense,  are  still  more  active  in  the 
United  States,  and  lead  to  similar  results  in  all  branches  where 
there  are  no  taxes  on  the  immediate  raw  material,  such  as  cotton 
goods,  or  where  the  labor  cost  is  the  greatest  part  of  the  value,  as 
in  machinery  or  hardware.  Wamsutta  Mills  J  muslin  is  retailed 
in  London  at  6d.  The  agent's  price  in  New  York  is  io|-  cents 
less  5  per  cent.,  and  two  per  cent,  for  cash.  It  is  largely  adver- 
tised in  London  as  such,  and  has  no  equal  in  English  brands  of 
like  superior  quality  and  price.  British  manufacturers  are  not  a 
little  exercised  at  this.  Wamsutta  (American)  muslin  is  now  a 
well-established  brand  in  the  English  home  market.  Germany's 
old  tariff  (according  to  Commissioner  Porter's  view,  a  free-trade 
one)  of  30  marks  per  Zoll  Centner  on  brown  goods  ($7.50  per  no 
lbs.  avoirdupois)  was  raised  in  1879  to  40  marks  and  on  bleached 


goods  from  48  to  50  marks.  A  25-per-cent.  protective  tariff  was 
not  sufficient  to  keep  American  cotton  goods  from  the  inhospita- 
ble shores  of  Germany,  whose  low-priced  labor  is  unable  to  com- 
pete against  the  high-priced  American  labor,  with  its  higher 
standard  of  living.  In  Canada  American  cotton  goods  are  sold 
side  by  side  with  Canadian  cotton  goods,  although  the  latter  are 
protected  by  a  25-per-cent.  duty.  Labor  is  lower  in  Canada  than 
in  the  United  States.  As  far  back  as  1875  we  had  commenced  to 
gain  a  foothold  in  these  very  markets.  1  need  not  dwell  here 
upon  the  reasons  why  we  are  not  more  successful  as  exporters  of 
American  mill  produce.  The  causes  are  manifold,  but  the  high 
cost  of  American  labor  is  not  one  of  them. 

WAGES   IN    THE    WOOLLEN    INDUSTRIES. 

In  woollens,  wages  on  the  average  are  about  30  per  cent,  higher 
in  the  United  States  than  in  England  ;  in  England,  about  20  to 
35  per  cent,  higher  than  in  France,  and  fully  50  per  cent,  higher 
than  in  Germany.  A  great  deal  more  is  done  under  one  roof  and 
management  in  the  United  States  than  in  England  or  Germany. 
If  the  dead  weight  of  the  wool  tax  were  removed,  there  is  little 
doubt  that  our  woollen  fabrics  would  soon  find  an  outlet  through 
other  markets  than  the  present  insufficient  ones. 

In  woollen  goods  and  yarns  the  imports  and  exports  in  1881 
were  : 

Imports.  Exports. 

England $35,000,000  $103,000,000 

Germany            .....         25,000,000  64,000,000 

France                .....  19,500,000  82,000,000 

United  States 38,000,000  400,000 

England  is  still  far  ahead  of  its  rivals  in  exports  of  woollens, 
though,  through  the  change  in  fashion,  from  hard  lustrous  goods 
(in  which  she  excelled  all  nations)  to  soft  goods,  a  marked 
decline  is  noticeable.  English  exports  in  1865,  were  $122,000,000. 
The  decline  is  certainly  not  due  to  the  higher  wages  paid  in  Eng- 
lish mills.*  The  difference  in  wages  in  1865  between  English  and 
German  labor  was  as  great  then  as  in  1880.  The  position  of  the 
United  States  in  the  world's  trade  in  woollens  is  rather  humiliating. 

*  This  decline  in  value  is,  however,  more  than  balanced  in  bulk.  The  de- 
cline in  prices  has  been  especially  heavy  in  w^ooUens  and  worsteds. 


Under  a  protection  of  a  tariff  on  woollens  varying  from  50  to  100 
per  cent.,  our  imports  are  double  those  of  France,  50  per  cent, 
above  those  of  Germany,  and  10  per  cent,  higher  than  those  of 
Great  Britain.  The  labor  cost  of  American  mill  hands  is  approx- 
imating that  of  Great  Britain,  so  much  that  the  plea  of  higher 
wages  is  no  longer  sufficient  argument  in  upholding  the  present 
rates.  When  the  tax  on  wool  is  abolished,  we  may  expect  to 
change  the  $400,000  of  our  exports  into  millions,  and  perhaps  into 
tens  of  millions. 

A  lucid  illustration  of  the  general  workings  of  the  tariff,  pre- 
venting exports,  but  rather  facilitating  imports,  may  be  seen  from 
this  :  The  tariff-rates  on  many  manufactures,  especially  in  the 
woollen  line,  seem  extreme.  Knit  goods,  composed  wholly  or  in 
part  of  wool,  or  worsted,  etc.,  pay  a  specific  and  an  ad-valoretn 
duty,  averaging  70  percent.,  under  the  "  Reform  Tariff  "  of  1883, 
— an  exorbitant  tax  on  so  necessary  an  article  of  clothing  as  an 
undershirt,  a  cardigan  jacket,  a  knitted  shawl,  or  the  like.  Sure, 
the  manufacturer  of  knit  goods  must  roll  in  wealth.  The  guillo- 
tine of  "  horizontal  reduction  "  ought  to  be  set  to  work  at  once 
to  correct  this  abuse.  But  the  yarns  used  in  these  goods  have 
exactly  the  same  rate  of  duty  to  pay.  They  come  under  the  same 
classification, — "knit  goods,  yarns,  composed  etc."  70  per-cent. 
on  Yarns^  wholly  or  in  part  of  wool  or  worsted.  There  are 
three  parts  to  the  material  and  one  part  to  the  labor  in  the 
composition  of  the  value  of  the  manufactured  article,  and  it 
may  be  imagined  what  great  margin  of  profit  is  left  to  the  manu- 
facturer, and  what  protection  to  labor  after  all  these  exor- 
bitant charges  have  been  paid,  which  are  heaped  upon  Amer- 
ican manufacture  over  and  above  what  foreign  competition  has  to 
pay.  Yarn  comes  next  to  the  raw  material.  Protective  Germany 
has  a  tariff  of  2]^  cents  (24  marks  per  100  kilograms)  on  a  pound 
of  full-worsted  yarn.  This  is  equal  to  a  little  over  4  per-cent. 
(against  our  70  ^),  if  we  take  60  cents  (the  average  value,  for 
1880,  of  British  exports  of  woollen  yarns)  as  a  basis  of  compari- 
son. German  manufacturers,  however,  are  little  pleased  at  this 
imposition,  and  energetic  complaints  are  found  in  the  reports  of 
various  Chambers  of  Commerce.  They  may  often  feel  comforted, 
however,  when  they  look  upon  the   70  ^  tax  on  the   raw  material 


B.— wo 

Values  reduced  to  American  dollars  :  English  shil 


1 

Great  Britain. 

1865. 

1880. 

1880. 

1880. 

1880. 

DESCRIPTION  OF 
OCCUPATION'S. 

Huddersfield, 

Batley. 

Dews- 

Huddersfield. 

Leeds. 

etc. 

bury. 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

Week  of  Hours. 

66 

56 

54 

56 

Wool  Sorters,  Men    .     . 

$5  28  to  7  68 

*$7  20 

$6  24 

$5  76 

Scourers,   Men      .     .     . 

3  84  to  5  04 

5  28 

5  76 

5  28 

Dyers,  Men     .... 

3  60  to  5  04 

5  28 

5  28 

5  23 

Dyers,  Foremen    . 

12  00 

14  40 

12  00 

Teasers  &  Willyers,  Men 

4  00 

5  28 

5  04 

$5  "76 

Scribblers,  Men     .     .     . 

6  00 

6  72 

"          Women     .     . 

2  16 

3  36 

3  00 

2  64 

Condenser  Minders,  Lads 

2  40 

3  00 

2  64 

2  52 

Spinners,  Men 

5  "76 

*7  20 

7  68 

*7  20 

9  00 

Spinners,  Piecers,  Lads 

I  92 

2  88 

2  40 

2  16 

2  28 

Spinners,  Foremen    . 

12  00 

9  60 

10  80 

13  20 

Warpers,  Women 

3  26 

3  60 

3  36 

3  61 

Beamers,  Men 

5  52 

6  25 

Healders,  Lads     . 

2  88 

*2    40 

Fettlers,  Men  .     .     .     . 

5  28 

5  28 

5  28 

WEAVING. 

Pattern  Designers,  Men. 

14  40 

14  40 

14  40 

Pattern  Weavers,  Men  . 

5  04 

5  76 

7  20 

6  00 

Furriers,  Men .     .     .     . 

9  60 

Weavers,    Men 

4  32 

*4  80 

6  00 

*6  25 

Weavers,   Women 

3  60 

3  60 

3  60 

*4  32 

3  50 

Burlers,  Women    . 

2  64 

2   10  to  3  60 

.  .  . 

Knotters,  Men 

5  28 

6  00 

Menders  and  Sewers 

3  00 

Women 

3  12 

3  00 

FULLING. 

Fullers,  Men     . 

•  .  . 

*6  00 

5  76 

5  52 

6  00  to  9  60 

Fullers,  Foremen       .     . 

*g  60 

14  00 

8  40 

DRESSING  &  FINISH'G 

Dressers,    Men 

6  24 

5  28 

5  04 

6  24 

.   .  . 

Tenterers,  Men    . 

*6  00 

5  25 

5  76 

Cutters,  Men   . 

5  72 

5  52 

5  76 

"        Lads  . 

2   15 

2  40 

2  88 

2  88 

Press  Setters,  Men 

6  00 

5  52 

6  00 

Steamers,  Men 

6  00 

5  52 

6  00 

Drawers,  Men 

*8  40 

9  60 

7  20 

Engine  Tenders   . 

9  60 

9  60 

8  40 

8  40 

Stokers  .... 

5   14 

4  32 
8  40 

5  28 

6  48 

5  28 

6  48 

Mechanics  .     .     . 

Carters   .... 

5  28 
5  28 

5  28 
5  28 

5  28 

6  00 

Warehousemen 

Laborers      .     .     . 

4  80 

4  80 

*  Piece  Work.    i.  Le 

one 

Levi,  "  Wages  a 

nd  Earn 

ings." 

2.  Report  to  P 

arlian 

le 

it 

1883. 

13 


OLLENS. 

ling  and  German  mark,  24  cents  ;  franc,  19  cents. 


United 

States. 

France.               1 

Germany. 

1880. 

1878. 

i8Si. 

1S70. 

1881. 

1881. 

1882. 

Stroud. 

Mass. 

Mass. 

Elbcuuf 

Rheims. 

.\ix  la  Chapelle 

Statistical 
Tables  of 

2 

4 

4 

6 

5 

7 

Concordia. 

56 

60 

72 

72 

76 

601078. 

*$6  50 

$3  50 

$9  43 

$4  62  to  5   82 

"^  0   S  0 

3  84 

6  66 

8  84    $3  18 

$3  00 

0  ^  ^    c«^ 

3  60 

6  66 

7  81      3  18 

7  20  to  10  80 

...... 

8  00 

rt'rt  U   f^ 

4  oS 

•   .   ■      4  37 

^r.-^^- 

3  78 

3  57 

^..B^ 

2  52 

...... 

*5  83 

7  64 

9  05      4  62 

4  62  to  4  92 

^^H  0 

3  00 

4  81      I   74 

l^::s 

7  80 

...... 

6  36  to  7  50 

2    0  ^ 

0      >-H                ^ 

*2    18 

...   i  2  88 

2  88  to  4  62 

2   00  to  2   80 

^  ""2-5 

*4  68 

S     -rn  1- 

■g^^o 

C  rt  :5o 

8  40  to  13  20 

9  50 

8  5.3 

4  62  to  6  36 

^^  0  «• 
0  --.J^^ 

5  40 

.  .  . 

4  25 

00   u   rt 

*4  32 

6  95 

7  45 

.   .   . 

g^t-'.-T: 
=  15      S 

*3  00 

4  32 

■       1  92 

4  59 

5   13 

u  1:^  0 

2  88 

6  34 

5  09 

2   08  to  2    70 

•   •  • 

C   rt   2    M 

3  60  to  4  82 
7  20  to  9  60 

6  89 

7  35      3  48 

•    •    • 

2   90 

0   _^  !U   rt 

£°3"° 

3  60 

7  08 

7  53 

5  ci  0  ^ 

3  84 

.    .    . 

••    rt    •-    > 
C         0   rt 

3  60 
I  44 

g    l-t    d     r-     t/l 

4  08 
4  00 

7  50 

7  68 

3  IS 

2    85 

5  04 

10  50 

II  07 

5  82  to  6  96 

4  30 

3  60 

8  78 

7  97 

4  62 

3  60 

6  12 

12  33 

13  43 

3  90 

^  ;;^  i  i 

3  60 
4  32  to  6  10 

2   85 

3  56 

6  69 

8  58 

3  78  to  4  6: 

2    90 

€^  •+  oCi 

4.  Report  of  Carroll  D.  Wright,  Commissioner  of  Labor,  Mass. 
Legislatif.    7.  Report  of  U.  S.  Consul  Dubois. 


5.  Report  of  U.  S. 


14 

of  our  manufactures  of  worsteds,  knit  goods,  gimps,  and  trim- 
mings of  all  kinds.  The  yarn-spinner,  has,  however,  an  equal 
right  to  repudiate  the  imputation  that  he  is  benefited  by  the  duty. 
He  has  a  charge  of  lo  cents  on  every  pound  of  grease  wool.  "  Pro- 
tection to  the  farming  interest  "  exacts  from  50  to  70  ^  of  the 
yarn-maker.  Upon  inquiry,  I  am  informed  by  the  Department 
of  Agriculture,  that  only  one  million  ranchmen  and  farmers  have 
made  returns  of  sheep.  There  are,  however,  over  4,000,000  of 
farms  in  the  United  States,  according  to  the  last  census.  Natu- 
rally, but  few  of  the  1,000,000  sheep- owners  have  large  interests  ; 
but  giving  to  this  class  all  the  benefits  of  numbers,  it  is  only  25 
per  cent,  of  the  farms  who  derive  any  advantage  from  this  tax, 
the  most  hurtful  of  our  cumbersome  system.  Which  manufactur- 
ing industry  is  enriched  or  protected  by  this  "  protective  system," 
I  must  leave  to  a  subtler  mind  to  calculate.  I  must  confess  that 
I  am  not  capable  of  it. 

That  the  horizontal-reduction  plan,  now  so  popular  among  our 
public  men,  is  wofully  out  of  proportion  as  a  means  of  relief  in  an 
emergency  like  this,  must  be  clear  to  every  mind. 

In  my  book,  "  The  Destructive  Influence  of  the  tariff,"  I  have 
shown  the  same  absurdity  of  so-called  tariff-protection  to  exist  in 
other  lines  of  woollens — from  the  cloak-industry  down  to  the  raw 
material.     The  same  as  to  shawls,  etc. 

WAGES   IN    THE    IRON    INDUSTRIES. 

In  the  iron  industries,  American  wages  average  fully  75  per 
cent,  more  than  English  wages.  Wages  in  England  are  fully  75 
per  cent,  higher  than  those  paid  in  Germany  for  like  work  in 
metals,  and  perhaps  one  third  higher  than  in  France.  I  have  no 
very  recent  tables  for  France  at  my  command.  Judging,  how- 
ever, from  an  article  in  the  April  number  of  the  Revue  des  Deux 
Monies  by  Mr.  Othenin  d'Haussonville,  "  La  Vie  et  les  Salaires 
a  Paris,"  and  comparing  living  expenses  of  Paris  and  wages  with 
those  of  provincial  towns  of  1873,  ^  consider  myself  justified  in 
making  this  average 

Now  what  is  the  result  of  competition  of  high-wage  countries 
and  low-wage  countries  in  metal-work  and  machinery  ?  If  the 
theory  assailed,   that  low-wage   countries  drive   their  high-labor 


15 
C— MACHINERY. 


England. 

U.  States. 

Germany. 

1865. 

1880. 

1880. 

1880. 

1878. 

1881. 

1880. 

E  a 

1882. 

Occupations, 

E 

<u 

V 

«  0 

•S.d 

3 

bC 

u 

& 

J3 

J3 

C 

S 

£ 

•a 
c 

Q 

5 

Hi 

m       1) 

rt  0 

1 

2 

2 

2 

4 

4 

DS 

CO 

Hours    .... 

66-72 

54 

54 

54 

60 

Pattern-makers     . 

$7  92 

7  92 

6  96 

7  56 

15  24 

18  10 

c  0 

rt  rt  d  rt  "^0 

Iron-moulders 
Brass-moulders     . 

8  64 

8  40 
8  40 

7  20 
6  72 

12  30 

13  25 

16  10 

15  75 

0^ 

6  0  ^    'T,^'  "^ 
c<^        cnvO 

Steam-hammermen 

12  96 

S  0 

Forsfemen   . 

16  80 

-:3 

s  of  skilled  me 
towns  :  8  at  $2 
,  21  at  $3.36,  65 
$4.08,  58  at  $4 
4  at  $5.04,  I  at 
4,  I  at  $6.48,  I 
mpire,  $3  82. 

Smiths    .... 

8  16 

6  48 

7    T2 

12  15 

15  75 

( 

3  36 

Strikers .     .     .     -j 

to 
4  32 

5  04 

4  56  5  04 

7  50 

8  64 

0      ..     ^ 
G  -^    0 

Planers  .... 

6  72 

7  68 

6  00  6  72 
6  72  6  72 

Turners 

7  20 

Fitters    .... 

7  20 

7  68 

6  247  14 

10  66 

12  82:s,^  jn 

y  earning 

Dps,     232 

at  $2.87 
84,  9  at 

at  $4.80, 
I  at  $6.2 

for  the  E 

Stokers  .... 

4  80 
7  20 
7  20 

5  146  12 

6  72  7  03 

9  60 
18  00 

i  2  g 

16  50|  D  ^  p 

Carpenters  . 
Bricklayers       .     . 

( 

3  60 

>^^-- 

2-S    <N^OOO    JJ„ 

Laborers     .     .     - 

to 
4  So 

4  32 

3  84  4  08 

7  38 

8  II 

Yeai 

ops 
illed 

^  jj  4  -  0'  ^  2 

Boiler-makers  . 

8  16 

6  48 

7  32 

"uj  c/: 

'u^'  w4^  rt  < 

I.  Leone  Levi,  "  Wages  and  Earnings.'     2.  Government  Report  to  Parliament,  1883. 
4.  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Labor  of  Massachusetts. 

competitors  to  the  wall,  is  correct,  then  England  ought  to  be  the 
first  country  to  guard  by  a  protective  wall  against  the  influx  of 
German  and  French  cheap  work. 

But  the  imports  and  exports  in  hardware,  cutlery,  machinery, 
and  other  mill- work,  give  an  altogether  different  showing  : 


Great  Britain  (1882) 
Germany  (18S1) 
France  (1880) 
United  States  (1882) 


Imports. 

$12,000,000* 

6,500,000 

11,500,000 

5,000,000 


Exports. 

^77,000,000 

25,000,000 

23,000,000 

25,000,000 


*  This  sum  contains  many  items  which  do  not  belong  to  this  class,  but  as  im- 
ports are  not  specified  sufficiently,  I  have  to  take  this  lump  sum. 


i6 

In  machinery,  England  excels  all  cheap-rate  countries,  both  as 
to  price  and  quality.  Consul-General  Walker,  in  his  report  of 
June  19,  1882,  to  the  Department  of  State,  gives  an  indication  of 
the  cost  of  machinery  in  both  countries  by  quoting  from  M. 
Pouyer  Quertier's  testimony  before  the  French  Tariff  Com- 
mission : 

Machinery  bought  in  England  for  a  cotton  factory  of  500 

looms $40,322 

Packing,  transportation,  and  customs  duty  .         .         .       16,900 

Total $57,222 

so  that  it  would  still  be  less  than  if  the  plant  were  produced  in 
France.  A  great  part  of  this  difference  in  price  is  due  to  higher 
coal,  iron,  and  steel ;  but  the  inferiority  of  French  labor  and  mill 
outfit  is  sufficiently  attested  by  other  testimony  and  by  the  high 
protective  tariff  which  France  draws  around  her  manufactures  as 
against  Great  Britain,  from  the  lowest  grade,  like  pig-iron,  up  to 
the  highest  strata  of  the  productive  process. 

Nor  does  England  fear  German  competition  and  its  still  lower 
labor.  Although  the  latter  possesses  coal-beds  and  iron  mines  in 
close  proximity,  with  labor  about  one  half  the  cost  of  British  la- 
bor, she  still  considered  it  necessary  in  1879  to  impose  a  duty  on 
pig-iron  and  other  crude  forms  of  iron,  and  to  double  the  rates  on 
all  other  forrns.  That  the  export  of  the  products  of  German  mills 
is  suffering  under  this  system  is  attested  by  all  the  Chambers 
of  Commerce  which  represent  manufacturing  interests  of  this 
kind. 

But  how  do  these  low-wage  countries  affect  American  foundry 
and  machine-shop  produce,  hardware,  etc.?  We  certainly  have 
nothing  to  fear  from  Germany.  The  sound  and  wholesome  ad- 
vice of  Professor  Reuleux,  the  German  Commissioner  at  the 
Philadelphia  Exposition  of  1876,  may  have  borne  fruitful  results. 
He  found  our  goods  excelling  theirs  in  every  way.  The  graceful- 
ness and  solidity  of  our  work  stood  out  in  solid  relief  against 
Germany's  "cheap  and  poor  "  wares  ("  Schlecht  und  billig  " — 
often  translated  as  "  cheap  and  nasty  "),  "  From  all  other  na- 
tions who  were  represented  at  the  Exposition,  we  found  some- 
thing worth  learning — from  Germany,  nothing." 

American   goods,  stoves,  ranges,  hardware  of  all  kinds,  tools, 


17 

machine-needles,  machinery  of  all  sorts,  find  a  ready  sale  in  Ger- 
many over  and  above  all  the  transportation  charges  and  the  tariff 
rates  which  Germany  feels  compelled  to  exact  so  as  to  protect  her 
cheap  labor  against  American  high-cost  labor,  with  its  graceful,  solid, 
and  at  the  same  time  low-priced  productions  of  superior  value 
and  finish,  German  makers  are  imitating  American  stamps  on 
their  own  fabrics — close  imitations  of  ours,  but  of  inferior  qual- 
ity, so  as  to  palm  them  off  for  American  goods — the  best  certifi- 
cate they  can  give  of  American  skill  and  genius.  Our  exports  in 
these  higher  branches  are  equalling  those  of  Germany  and  France, 
although  the  materials  of  which  they  are  composed  are  subjected 
to  tariff  rates  ranging  from  45  to  75  per  cent.  All  grades  of  iron 
are  subjected  by  the  American  tariff,  it  should  be  remembered,  to 
specific  rates,  which  bear  the  heavier  against  the  manufacturer  of 
finished  fabrics  the  more  foreign  prices  decline  in  value,  as  has 
been  the  case  in  all  forms  of  iron. 

The  percentage  of  material  and  labor  in  these  metal  goods  is  as 
follows  (Census  of  1880)  : 

Articles.  Material.  Labor. 

Agricultural  implements  .....     67  33 

Cutlery 51  49 

Fire-arms        ........     40  60 

Sewing-Machines    .......     50J  49^ 

Foundiy  produce,  machinery,  etc.   ....     60  40 

The  higher  cost  of  the  material,  the  much  higher  price  of  our 
labor,  every  possible  obstacle,  is  overcome  by  American  genius, 
nerve,  and  power. 

Exports  of  such  magnitude  in  face  of  all  the  difficulties  that 
were  to  be  overcome  by  us  only  indicate  what  our  condition  might 
be  if  the  burden  upon  our  industry  of  the  tax  on  raw  materials 
were  removed. 

In  metals  of  cruder  form,  where  the  labor  cost  is  smaller,  and 
the  material  presents  by  far  the  highest  proportion  of  cost  (pig- 
iron,  bar-iron,  stee-l,  labor  =  22  percent.,  material  =  78  percent.), 
we  are  heavy  importers  and  not  exporters.  Imports  in  pig-iron, 
bar-iron,  etc.,  steel,  and  rails  in  1882  were  $43,000,000,  and  ex- 
ports little  over  $1,000,000,  against  imports  of  only  $5,000,000 
and  exports  to  over  $25,000,000  in  the  above  goods  of  finer 
finish. 


i8 


WAGES    IN    THE    BOOT    AND    SHOE    INDUSTRY. 


D.    BOOTS   AND    SHOES. 


1882. 

Great 
Britain. 

United  States. 

France. 

Germany. 
Tables  of 

Concordia. 

1880. 

1878. 

1881. 

<U   C   0   1;^    t/J 

Description 

tfl 

S 

ake 
ada 
Sta 

in  t 
aid 

84, 
latt 
turi 

of  Occupation. 

0) 

V 

S-^S 

3 
j3 

i 

1)  0  i2 

.0  M 
'S'S 

1 
S 

u 

ranee  wages  of  she 
ween  five  and  six  f  ran 
t  of  Secretary  Evar 
or  in  Europe,  1S78.] 

ages  for  m 
y  from  $4 
Karlsruhe 
)  $3.00— t 
irge  manu 
ine. 

^^    . 

^     4 

^      4 

Hours    .... 

56 

60 

Sewing  machinists,   men 

7.20 

ti7.75 

ti5.40 

!».  ''   i-i   1   a  .- 

Sewing  machinists,  women 

3.80 

7-33 

7.81 

erman 
dustry 
ort(o.n 
ach  (0 
tre  of 
y  in  th 

Cutters,  men  . 
Clickers,  men 

5.04  I 
6.48  [ 

T1.05 

14. QI 

Riveters,  men 

*6.oo 

13-75 

II   31 

i;  o-a 

0  .£  ^  .j5  s  i: 

Machine  operators,  men  . 

6  72 

In 

are  t 

(Rep 

of  L 
1 

fl  <u  c  5  0  3 

HH     0     g{C     lU'd 

Finishers 

*7  20 

11.75 

12.18 

-SfeO-S.S 

The  boot  and  shoe  industry  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  the 
United  States.  In  1880,  133,000  persons  were  employed  in  mak- 
ing boots  and  shoes  at  an  outlay  of  $51,000,000  for  wages,  or 
$383  per  head.  The  grand  total  of  production  amounted  to 
$197,000,000.  This  rate  of  wages  is  higher  than  that  in  most  of 
our  proteoted  manufacturing  industries,  and  largely  above  the 
prices  paid  in  Europe. 

American  wages,  in  fact,  run  to  about  double  the  English 
rates,  which  in  turn  exceed  both  the  French  and  German  wages. 
Nevertheless,  Mr.  Howard  M.  Newhall,  of  Lynn,  Mass.,  states 
that  the  labor  to  make  a  pair  of  shoes,  though  American  machines 
are  in  use  there,  is  some  cents  less  in  America  than  in  England. 

Mr.  Mulhall,  "  Dictionary  of  Statistics  for  1884,"  says  :  "  The 
American  machine  enables  a  man  to  make  300  pairs  of  boots 
daily,  a  single  factory  in  Massachusetts  turning  out  as  many  pairs 
yearly  as  32,000  bootmakers  in  Paris.  The  advance  of  these  ma- 
chines has  been  as  follows  : 

*  Piece  work.  f  McKay  operators. 

'  Report  of  Government  to  Parliament,  1883. 

*  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Labor,  Carroll  D.  Wright, 


No.  of  Mach 

ines. 

Mill: 

ion  Pairs  Yearly, 

15 

1 
If 

470 

15 

1220 

45 

2300 

100 

3100 

150 

19 

Year. 
1862 
1865   . 
1870 
1875   . 
1880 

The  Austrian  Government  makes  two  million  pairs  yearly.     These 
machines  are  now  in  general  use." 

The  French  figures  given  in  the  table  are  more  than  double  what 
wages  were  in  1855  in  France,  according  to  Mr.  M.  A.  Moreau  de 
Jonnes  {Siatistique  de  l' I ndustj-ie  de  la  France^,  but  still  not  more 
than  half  the  wages  of  shoemakers  in  a  shoe  factory  in  Massachu- 
setts. But  in  France  the  manufacture  of  shoes,  as  carried  on  in  the 
United  States,  was  until  recently  an  unknown  art.  I  know  of  a 
case  which  tells  at  a  glance  the  world-wide  difference  in  the  two 
modes  of  production  ruling  in  the  two  countries.  The  partner  of 
a  New  York  leather  firm,  who  resided  at  Paris,  had  a  son,  who, 
like  many  a  Parisian  youth,  needed  a  change  of  air.  He  was  sent 
to  New  York,  with  instructions  to  the  New  York  partner  to  make 
a  man  of  him  in  the  American  sense  of  the  word.  The  young 
gentleman  was  willing  enough,  and  he  consented  to  go  through 
the  full  course  of  study  in  a  Massachusetts  shoe  factory.  After 
a  thorough  apprenticeship — from  the  cutting  to  the  finishing  pro- 
cess— he  bought  an  outfit  of  a  shoe  factory  of  the  Massachusetts 
pattern,  hired  a  foreman  and  a  force  of  workmen  (who,  by  the 
way,  would  not  have  left  their  homes  unless  they  had  been  sure  of 
receiving  better  pay  than  they  could  get  in  Massachusetts),  took 
machinery  and  men  to  France,  and  established  a  shoe  factory  at 
Lyons.  It  need  not  be  said  that  he  is  doing  exceedingly  well, 
and  I  learn  that  he  has  a  Government  contract  for  army  boots. 

THE    NEW    THEORY    OF    WAGES    AND    TRADE. 

It  is  not  by  reducing  wages  that  America  is  making  her  con- 
quests, but  by  her  superior  organization,  greater  efficiency  of 
labor  consequent  upon  the  higher  standard  of  living  ruling  in  the 
country.  High-priced  labor  means  better  food  and  better 
living,  and  these  supply  the  American  workman  with  that  energy 
and  nerve-power  for  which  he  is  so  justly  celebrated.  High- 
priced-labor  countries  are  everywhere  beating  "pauper-labor" 
countries.     The  former  never  harm  those  where  the  high-standard 


20 


labor  is  the  rule  ;  but  cheap  labor  is  irretrievably  ruined  wherever 
it  attempts  to  fight  an  even  battle  with  a  well-situated  antagonist. 
Thus,  while  the  doctors  are  consulting  which  mode  of  treatment 
would  most  benefit  their  patient,  Young  America  gets  up  from  his 
couch,  puts  on  his  hat,  takes  his  samples  of  Yankee-notions, 
machines,  cotton  goods,  and  boots  and  shoes,  and  tries  to  earn  a 
penny  or  two  long  before  the  doctors  have  concluded  their  able 
discourses  about  their  codes  and  the  school  that  ought  to  have 
him  in  hand.  A  clean  bill  of  health  would  be  a  godsend  to  him, 
as  he  could  then  start  in  business  without  having  to  pay  excessive 
fees  in  the  shape  of  a  heavy  tax  on  his  first  raw  materials.  This 
tax  makes  his  starting-point  so  much  above  that  of  his  foreign 
competitors  that  his  success  in  this  field  seems  almost  miraculous. 

It  is  then  no  more  a  question  of  shielding  American  manufac- 
turers against  the  influx  of  foreign  manufactures,  which  we  have 
never  been  able  to  prevent  under  our  ill-adjusted  tariff  (which 
puts  the  highest  rates  on  the  coarsest  grades),  as  shown  in  my 
tables  of  imports  ;  but  the  question  is,  how  to  extend  the  field  foi 
the  export  of  our  manufactures.  How  change  our  congestive 
state  into  active  healthful  life  ?  With  many  of  our  industries  it 
is  not  any  longer  a  question  of  protection,  but  of  existence.  The 
surplus  yield  of  mills  is  oppressive,  destructive  even,  and  an  outlet 
must  be  found  somewhere. 

During  the  past  season  auction  sales  in  dry  goods  were  resorted 
to  to  close  out  accumulations  of  stocks  which  found  no  ready  sales 
in  the  open  market.  They  amounted  to  about  60,000  bales  and 
cases,  valued  by  a  trade  paper  at  $7,000,000.  This  is  a  rather 
low  estimate,  and  I  think  $10,000,000  more  nearly  correct.  The 
quick  succession  of  these  sales  not  only  reduced  the  bids  offered 
in  each  sale,  but  had  an  equally  depressing  influence  on  the  prices 
of  all  other  domestic  dry  goods  sold  in  the  open  market.  Our 
whole  annual  product  of  1S80  in  cotton  goods,  woollen  goods,  and 
mixed  textiles  was  $480,000,000,  so  that  these  auction  sales  repre- 
sented but  2  per  cent,  of  the  entire  output  of  these  two  great 
industries.  It  was  sufficient,  however,  to  cause  widespread  loss 
and  ruin.  Had  we  had  a  foreign  market  for  this  stuff,  how  dif- 
ferent might  be  the  situation. 

I  take  the  positive  ground  that  there  need  be  no  reduction  of 


21 


wages  below  that  paid  in  1880,  that  all  we  need  is  llie  raw 
material  at  as  cheap  a  rate  as  that  at  which  competing  nations  pro- 
cure it,  in  order  to  enable  us  to  take  as  commanding  a  position 
in  the  markets  of  the  world  as  sellers  of  manufactured  goods,  as 
we  do  in  agricultural  products.  A  tariff  on  manufactures  does 
not  bear  so  heavily  on  consumers,  when  raw  materials  are  free. 
The  prices  of  raw  materials  are  easily  kept  up  to  the  highest  level 
which  the  duty  guarantees,  and  combinations  to  regulate  the  out- 
put are  more  successful  than  elsewhere.  We  see  this  in  coal-  and 
ore-mining  and  in  sheep-raising.  The  multiplied  manufacturing 
interests  have  too  much  at  stake  even  to  attempt  it,  and  under 
limited  outlets  competition  follows  which  reminds  more  of  savage 
warfare  than  of  the  brotherhood  of  men.  With  open  markets  for 
the  raw  materials  the  price  in  Europe  would  rise  to  such  a  degree 
that  on  the  one  hand  the  home  producer  would  get  but  little,  if 
any,  less  than  now  in  our  depressed  industrial  condition,  and  on 
the  other  hand  our  foreign  competitors  would  have  to  pay  more 
for  their  raw  materials.  This  would  at  once  enable  us  to  regard 
with  equanimity  the  outside  competition,  which  now  has  us  com- 
pletely at  its  mercy,  with  its  materials  so  much  below  ours. 

For  these  reasons  nobody  is  actually  benefited  by  taxed  raw 
materials.  It  is  a  national  waste — not  protection.  Taxing  the 
raw  material,  taxing  the  manufacturer  who  uses  these  raw 
materials,  is  forcibly  limiting  its  own  (the  raw  material's)  markets  ; 
in  other  words,  killing  the  goose  which  lays  the  golden  eggs. 

What  we  are  capable  of  has  been  shown  already,  and  we  have 
hardly  raised  the  fringe  of  the  curtain  which  shuts  the  outside 
world  from  us.  Instead  of  doing  barely  5  per  cent,  of  the  export 
trade  of  Great  Britain  in  manufactures  we  might  divide  honors 
with  her.  That  we  are  capable  of  doing  so  admits  of  no  doubt. 
Nor  is  this  the  vision  of  an  enthusiast  eager  for  the  realization  of 
the  great  destiny  of  the  Republic.  So  sober  a  mind  and  so  able 
and  sincere  a  protectionist  as  Mr.  ex-Secretary  of  State  William  M. 
Evarts,  in  the  letter  of  the  Secretary  of  State  to  the  Speaker  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  Mr.  Samuel  J.  Randall,  states  th's 
in  language  so  pertinent  that  I  may  be  excused  for  giving  a  few 
brief  extracts  : 

*'  In  order  to  appreciate  the  fulness  of  the  successes  which  have 


attended  our  exports  of  manufactures,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that 
we  essayed  to  reach  the  world's  markets  at  a  time  when  they 
were  glutted  and  flat,  through  the  business  depression  and  en- 
forced idleness  which  prevailed  everywhere,  and  when  the  several 
peoples  were  too  much  engaged  in  providing  the  barest  neces- 
saries of  life  to  pay  any  attention  to  the  purchase  of  new  and  un- 
known manufactures.  Yet,  in  the  very  face  of  this  universal 
despondency,  American  manufactures  have  gone  into  favor  every- 
where, and  have  won  the  highest  recognition  for  strength,  grace, 
and  durability. 

"  This  immediate  and  general  recognition  of  the  superior  quali- 
ties of  American  manufactures  is  a  victory  in  itself  pregnant  with 
future  profits.  All  our  consular  reports  agree  in  this  one  re- 
spect, that  American  cottons,  American  tools  and  agricultural 
machinery,  and  all  the  fine  manufactures  which  enter  into  the  ad- 
vanced utilities  of  the  day,  especially  in  their  happy  combination 
of  the  useful  and  the  beautiful,  are  recognized  as  superior  to  all 
others.  *  *  *  But  we  have  advanced  in  manufactures,  as  in 
agriculture,  and  we  are  being  forced  outward  by  the  irresistible 
pressure  of  our  internal  development,  and  we  find  it  easier  to  meet 
and  overcome  opposition  in  the  various  foreign  markets  than  to 
cry  halt  to  progress  at  home.  *  *  *  We  must  win  our  way  by 
superiority  alone — superiority  in  business,  in  manufactures,  and  in 
all  the  subsidiary  factors  which  go  to  build  up  a  perfect  commerce. 
But  our  manufacturers  and  exporters  possess  all  the  necessary 
elements  to  enable  them  to  win  the  most  brilliant  success  in  this 
branch  of  our  foreign  commerce.  Happily  this  is  so,  for  while 
the  European  merchant  is  directed  and  aided  to  reach  the  foreign 
markets  in  many  essential  ways — for  that  which  is  the  life  of  all 
countries,  commerce,  appeals  to  those  governments  for  favorable 
legislation  as  a  first  duty, — the  American  must  inaugurate,  intro- 
duce, and  develop  the  foreign  commerce  of  his  country  as  though 
it  were  wholly  a  personal  speculation  in  which  the  nation  at  large 
had  no  interest." 

We  must  develop  our  commerce,  go  abroad,  study  the  wants, 
the  tastes,  the  modes  of  business  of  respective  countries,  adapt 
ourselves  to  each  case.  The  patterns,  designs,  weight,  measures, 
widths,  lengths,  packing  and  folding  of  dry  goods,  etc.,  etc.,  all 


23 

are  different  in  different  countries, — all  these  things  must  be  con- 
sidcrtd.  These  arc  matters  of  accommodation,  they  cost  but  lit- 
tle, but  they  often  determine  a  trader's  preference  for  British  or 
other  goods  even  if  the  price  be  higher  than  ours.  Many  and 
various  are  the  points  .that  militate  against  us  ;  they  have  to  be 
investigated  and  may  be  a  fruitful  subject  of  further  argument, 
but  I  cannot  dwell  upon  them  here.  I  only  wish  to  demonstrate 
the  great  strength  of  our  competitive  capacity  as  well  as  our  weak 
spot, — the  tariff  on  raw  materials,  heaviest  duties  on  crudest 
fabrics  and  smallest  on  finest  fabrics,  discouraging  the  develop- 
ment of  the  latter  till  it  seems  almost  impossible  to  engage  in 
them. 

The  extension  of  exports  in  manufactures  is  imperative  from 
another  point  of  view.  Our  exports  in  cereals  and  provisions 
amount  to  93°°)°°°.°°°  ;  o'^r  exports  of  manufactures  of  all 
sorts  (including  boards,  laths,  shingles,  etc.)  about  $100,000,000. 
Our  cereals  and  provisions  are  bought  only  by  England,  Germany, 
and  France.  All  other  countries,  if  industrial,  produce  sufficiently 
for  their  home  demand,  or,  if  agricultural,  are  eager  competitors 
with  us  for  the  trade  of  the  above-named  buyers  of  food  supply. 
Germany  and  France  are  endeavoring  hard  to  keep  our  grain  and 
provisions  from  the  mouths  of  their  poor  by  laying  restrictive  laws 
against  the  imports-of  our  stores.  England  is  certainly  doing  her 
best  to  develop  the  resources  of  India  and  Australia,  which  are 
beginning  to  become  very  formidable  competitors  of  our  agricul- 
turists. The  impending  doom  of  the  present  land  laws  of  Great 
Britain,  the  more  than  probable  substitution  of  proprietary  farm- 
ing for  tenant  farming,  will  undoubtedly  throw  a  great  deal  of 
now  unproductive  soil  into  the  cultivators'  hands.  The  black  soil 
of  the  Sarn?atian  plain,  and  the  Hungarian  wheat-fields,  all  the 
blessed  rich  lands  from  the  Ural  Mountains  to  the  Adriatic  Sea,  only 
wait  for  the  iron-horse  and  the  steam-boat  to  induce  the  dwellers 
of  these  vast  tracts  of  most  fertile  soil  to  rise  from  their  lethargy 
and  become  our  most  formidable  rivals.  Even  now  the  Russian 
Government  is  maturing  a  plan  for  the  organization  of  a  railroad 
system  which,  if  executed,  will  do  more  for  the  development  of 
this  vast  realm  than  conqueror  or  statesman  has  ever  done  for 
Holy  Russia  since   the  Tartar   invasion.     The  locomotive    and 


24 

steam-ship  have  made  sad  havoc  with  the  Malthusian  theory, 
this  cosy  refuge  of  laisser-faire' s  dull  complacency.  Every 
spot  of  the  globe  held  by  civilized  government  is  now  tribu- 
tary, or  likely  to  become  tributary,  to  the  food-wants  of  any 
country.  The  highwaymen  of  our  food-exchanges,  the  "  cor- 
nerers  "  of  the  daily  bread  of  the  poor,  are  giving  constant  cause 
to  other  countries  for  endeavoring  to  find  more  satisfactory 
sources  of  supplies,  sources  that  are  not  so  apt  to  be  stopped  or 
interfered  with  at  the  command  of  a  chieftain  of  the  stock  or  the 
produce  exchange.  It  is  much  more  difficult  to  get  back  a  trade 
once  lost  than  to  create  one  new.  To  show  the  possibilities  of  the 
yield  of  the  above-mentioned  new  sources  of  supply,  I  may^tate 
that  the  exports  of  cereals  of  Russia,  Austria,  India,  Australia,  and 
Canada,  which  were  in  1870  ^140,000,000,  rose  to  ^350,000,000  in 
1880,  and  although  India  had  not  more  than  9,875  miles  of  rail- 
roads in  1881,  yet  her  exports  of  wheat  rose  from  ^5,500,000  in 
1880  to  ^43,000,000  in  1882.*  Meantime  our  exports  in  bread- 
stuffs,  which  were  $285,000,000  in  1880,  declined  to  $185,000,000 
in  1882,  and  $207,000,000  in  1S83. 

The  American  farmer  may  be  obliged  one  of  these  days  to  de- 
pend on  the  home  market,  which  only  a  fully  developed  export  of 
manufactures  can  give  him.  Wise  statesmanship  will  take  these 
matters  into  serious  consideration  and  will  help  to  supplant  a  line 
of  commerce  which  may  be  fading  away  from  us  even  now,  by  one 
far  more  enduring  and  remunerative  to  the  present  and  to  future 
generations. 

*  Statistical  Abstract  for  Colonial  Possessions  of  the  United  Kingdom,  1867 
to  1881. 


25 


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THE   NEW  YORK    FREE-TRADE    CLUB. 

INCORPORATED    FEBRUARY,    1878. 
*  *  OFFICERS  FOR    1 883. 

President:  EVERETT   P.  WHEELER. 

Vice-Presidents  : 

JOHN    R.  McNULTY.  JAMES    M.  CONSTABLE, 

CHARLES   H.  MARSHALL,  HORACE  WHITE, 

E.  J.  DONNELL. 

Treas. :  LE  GRAND  LOCKWOOD.        Ass't  Treas.:  JOHN  C.  LLOYD. 
Secretary:  TOULTNEY  BIGELOW,  39  Nassau  Street. 
TRUSTEES: 
elected  for  three  years  each. 
Capt.  John  Codman,  Thomas  Holland, 

Anson  Phelps  Stokes,  Everett  P.  Wheeler, 

Francis  O.  French.  John  S.  Kennedy, 

Prof.  George  B.  Newcomb,  Charles  Tracy, 

Geo.  Haven  Putnam,  H.  B.  B.  Stapler. 

EXTRACTS  FROM   CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE   II.— OBJECTS. 

The  business  and  objects  of  the  Club  shall  be  : 

First  :  The  study  and  discussion  of  questions  in  political  economy, 
especially  such  as  relate  to  the  Laws  of  Trade,  and  the  diffusion  of  informa- 
tion thereon. 

Second :  The  formation  of  a  public  opinion  that  will  secure  Congres- 
sional action  toward  freedom  of  commercial  intercourse. 

Third  :  The  furthering  the  establishment  of  similar  associations,  and  of 
fraternal  relations  with  them,  and  the  promotion  of  social  intercourse  among 
its  members. 

ARTICLE  III.— PLATFORM. 

The  New  York  Free-Trade  Club  holds  : 

First:  That  the  only  commercial  policy  which  is  in  its  nature  perma- 
nent and  unchangeable,  and  which,  therefore,  assures  stability  in  all  kinds  of 
business,  is  free  trade  between  nations  as  between  the  States  of  the  Union. 

Second  :  That  the  only  tax  on  imports  which  should  ever  be  tolerated 
by  a  free  people  is  a  tariff  for  rerenue  only. 

Third  :  That  the  greatest  burden  now  borne  by  the  American  people  is 
the  unjust  and  unequal  system  of  taxation  called  a  protective  tariff. 

The  Club  invites  the  membership  and  cooperation  of  all  advocates  of 
revenue  reform  to  the  following  immediate  purposes  :  I.  To  secure  legisla- 
tion which  shall  place  upon  the  free  list  the  raw  materials  required  for 
American  manufactures.  II.  To  effect  the  gradual  reduction  of  duties  upon 
manufactured  articles  until  every  exactment  is  repealed  which  gives  a  bounty 
to  the  manufacturer  at  the  expense  of  the  consumer. 

It  expects  by  this  means  to  secure  the  abolition  of  all  taxes  which  are 
levied  upon  the  whole  people  to  swell  the  profits  or  make  good  the  losses  of 
a  comparatively  small  portion  of  the  people. 

It  believes,  further,  that  through  the  reduction  of  the  cost  of  raw  mate- 
rials and  the  removal  of  the  present  artificial  restrictions  upon  foreign  trade, 
American  manufactures  will  be  placed  in  a  position  to  compete  for  the  mar- 
kets of  the  world. 

The  annual  dues  of  the  Club  are  five  dollars.  Members  are  entitled  to 
one  copy  each  of  all  the  publications  of  the  Club. 


CHEAP    FREE-TRADE    LITERATURE. 


Creed  of  Free  Trade.     D.  A.  Wells.     N.  Y.  .         .         .         .     $o  lo 

The    Protective   System :    What   it   Costs   the   American    Farmer. 

G.   McAdam.     N.  Y lo 

Free  Trade  vs.  Protection.     H.  J.  Philpott.     Iowa  ...  lo 

Freer  Trade   Essential  to  National   Development.     D.  A.  Wells. 

Brooklyn       ..........  lo 

History  of   the    Free- Trade    Struggle    in    England.     Gen.   M.   M. 

Trumbull.     Iowa  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .    '       25 

Slavery  z/j.  "Protection."     E.J.  Donnell.     N.  Y.  .         .         .  10- 

Friendly  Sermons  to  Protectionist  Manufacturers.  J.S.Moore.  N.Y.  25 

Our  Revenue  System  and  the  Civil  Service.    A.  L.  Earle.     N.  Y.    .  25 

Free  Ships.     Capt.  J.  Codman.     N.  Y. 25 

Why  we  Trade,  and  IIow  we  Trade.     D.  A.  Wells.     N.  Y.   .  .  25 

The  Tariff  Question.      Horace  White.      N.  Y 25 

Protection  and  Wages.     Graham  McAdam.     N.  Y.         .         .         .  05 

The  Destructive  Influence  of  the  Tariff  upon  Commerce  and  Manu- 
factures.    By  J.  Schoenhof,  N.  Y.         .         .  .         .         .  40 

Wages  and  Trade  in   Manufacturing  Iiulusirics  m  Anicnca  and  in 

Europe.     By  J.  Schoenhof,  N.  Y 25 

The  above  and  a  great  variety  of  minor  leaflets  can  be  had  at  low  prices 
by  the  hundred,  on  application  to  the  Secretary  of  the  N.  Y.  Free-Trade 
Club. 

Readers  desiring  to  go  further  in  economic  and  political  literature  are 
referred  to  the  classified  descriptive  list  of  books  on  "Political  Economy 
and  Political  Science,"  published  in  a  25-cent  pamphlet  by  the  Society  for 
Political  Education  (Worthington  C.  Ford,  Sec'y,  4  Morton  Street,  New 
York  City).  A  Pamphlet  of  "  Subjects  and  Questions"  for  debate  on  these 
topics  is  also  published  by  that  Society,  at  10  cents. 

The  Aiiic7-ican  Free  Trader  is  published  mid-monthly,  at  50  cents  a  year, 
by  A.  L.  Earle,  137  Broadway,  New  York. 

The  books  and  leading  pamphlets  scheduled  may  be  had  by  post,  on 
receipt  of  price,  from  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  27  West  Twenty-third  Street, 
New  York,  or  through  most  booksellers,  or  from  the  Secretary  of  the  New 
York  Free-Trade  Club. 

POULTNEY  BIGELOW, 
Secretary  of  the  New  York  Free-Trade  Club, 

39  Nassau  Street,  New  York. 

THE  LIBRARY 

iJNIVERSlTY  OF  CALIFORNbi 

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